The MLB Award Winners Through the First Half of the MLB Season

With the MLB season just over halfway done, I figured it would be a great time to look at who are the leading candidates for awards including MVP, Cy Young, and many more. Let’s jump into it.

All stats as of Monday morning (7/11/26).

AL MVP: Yordan Alvarez
Alverez is probably the favorite here. He edges out Witt Jr. in many major categories (OPS, AVG, OPB, etc). Yordan is on pace for about 60 home runs and over 130 RBIs. The only thing you can fault him for is I guess being slow (1 SB), and not contributing defensively because he is a DH. Although Aaron Judge would be the popular option, he is batting below .250 and is injured so he has 100+ less at-bats than other competition.

Runner Up: Bobby Witt Jr.

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Fans may be tired of hearing Ohtani’s name so often, but he is the obvious and best choice here. Ohtani is tied for the highest WAR in all of MLB ad is batting .290 with a .943 OPS, and a 160 OPS+ (league average is 100). Pete Crow-Armstrong could certainly give him a run for his money with a better BA, more hits, more stolen bases, same amount of HRs, and same WAR. However, if Ohtani gets back to pitching at some point and keeps up his performance (1.79 ERA, 0.92 WHIP) he will beat out PCA.

Runner Up: Pete Crow-Armstrong

AL Cy Young: Cam Schlittler
To be honest, the AL Cy Young group is not super stacked. Schlittler is the best in the group with a 4.0 WAR, a 2.01 record, and an 0.929 WHIP. He averages over 1 SO per inning and has a 9-5 record. Sonny Gray is a decently close second. He’s 11-1 with a 2.5 WAR, 1.098 WHIP, but does not generate the same amounts of swing and miss. Other than those two players, the AL Cy Young category is a bit lacking in very good talent.

Runner Up: Sonny Gary

NL Cy Young: Jacob Misiorowski
Misiorowski is the easy number one pitcher in MLB right now. He basically throws 102 MPH every fastball. Jacob also posses a 10-4 record, a 1.62 ERA, and a 0.757 WHIP. He averages 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings and has a 4.3 WAR. Now it’s a bit of a fight for runner up between Shohei Ohtani and Cristopher Sánchez. Ohtani generally has better stats, but he has missed a few starts with no time table for return.

Runner Up: Cristopher Sánchez

AL ROY: Kevin McGonigle
McGonigle is having a fantastic season for a rookie. He has a 5.2 WAR, .286 average, .395 OPB, and 11 stolen bases. The only AL rookie who can even come close to Kevin‘s production is Munetaka Murakami. Murakami has 20 home runs, a .931 OPS, and a 157 OPS+. However he strikes out about every third at bat, and his average just below .240 making him the runner up for AL ROY.

Runner Up: Munetaka Murakami

NL ROY: JJ Wetherholt
The NL ROY race is pretty tight between two player. JJ Wetherholt and Sal Stewart. To understand the full picture, you also have to look at defensive metrics. JJ is tied (with Cole Young who has actually played more games) for the most DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) at 2B. Meanwhile, Stewart is tied for 3rd to last in Reds DRS with -3. While JJ and Sal are decently close in offensive number (you could argue Wetherholt is a bit better) the defense is really a game changer. Bryce Eldridge is another candidate lately has gone cold batting only .207 in the last seven games.

Runner Up: Sal Stewart

AL Comeback Player of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
While it might seem like Alvarez has always been an MVP level player, in 2025 he only had an 0.7 WAR, a .797 OPS, and a .367 OBP (the lowest for him for a qualified season). On top of that, he was injured for 2/3 of that year. Now he is an MVP candidate. Mike Trout could be a candidate, but he has only moderately improved his numbers since last year.

Runner Up: Mike Trout

NL Comeback Player of the Year: Jordan Walker
I mean who else? Jordan Walker went from a below average outfielder (-1.7 WAR) in 2025 to a player who deserves MVP votes in 2026. This year, he is batting .294 and has 74 RBIs (the most in MLB). He is on pace for over 40 home runs and a 148 OPS+. Michael Harris is another candidate, but he had a decent season in 2025 and Walker has overall better numbers. Some people believe Zach Wheeler deserves it, but last year he sported a 5.1 WAR, a 2.71 ERA, and a 0.935 WHIP. This year he is a little better, but you can’t get comeback player of the year coming off a great year.

Runner Up: Michael Harris

Thanks for reading!